Sony Pictures Classics will release The President's Cake on February 6, 2026 in select theaters, before expanding nationwide on February 27, 2026. The film will have a one-week qualifying run in New York and Los Angeles starting on December 12, 2025. The feature debut from writer and director Hasan Hadi was submitted by Iraq as their official entry for the Best International Feature category for the 2026 Academy Awards®. The film received rave reviews following its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it became the first Iraqi film to ever compete at the festival and won the Directors’ Fortnight People’s Choice Award and Camera d’Or. 

The film had its North American premiere in the Centrepiece section at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival before making its US debut at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Most recently, The President's Cake took home the award for Best Narrative Feature at the Hamptons International Film Festival. 

The President's Cake is produced by Leah Chen Baker with executive producers including award-winning screenwriter Eric Roth (FORREST GUMP) and director Marielle Heller (NIGHTBITCH, BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD). The film is made in association with Missing Piece Films, Working Barn Productions, Maiden Voyage Pictures and Spark Features. 

While people across 1990s Iraq struggle to survive the war and food shortages, the President requires each school in the country to prepare a cake to celebrate his birthday. Despite her efforts to avoid getting picked, 9-year-old Lamia is chosen among her classmates. The young girl must now use her wits and imagination to gather ingredients and prepare the mandatory cake in The President's Cake.